Jerusalem: Heart of Our Heart

Jerusalem is above politics.

Nobel Prize-winning author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel today took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal, in the form an open letter to President Obama, with whom Wiesel visited the Buchenwald death camp last year. Here is the text of the letter.

For Jerusalem

It was inevitable: Jerusalem once again is at the center of political debates and international storms. New and old tensions surface at a disturbing pace. Seventeen times destroyed and seventeen times rebuilt, it is still in the middle of diplomatic confrontations that could lead to armed conflict. Neither Athens nor Rome has aroused that many passions.

For me, the Jew that I am, Jerusalem is above politics. It is mentioned more than six hundred times in Scripture-and not a single time in the Koran. Its presence in Jewish history is overwhelming. There is no more moving prayer in Jewish history than the one expressing our yearning to return to Jerusalem. To many theologians, it IS Jewish history, to many poets, a source of inspiration. It belongs to the Jewish people and is much more than a city, it is what binds one Jew to another in a way that remains hard to explain. When a Jew visits Jerusalem for the first time, it is not the first time; it is a homecoming.The first song I heard was my mother’s lullaby about and for Jerusalem. Its sadness and its joy are part of our collective memory.

When a Jew visits Jerusalem for the first time, it is a homecoming.

Since King David took Jerusalem as his capital, Jews have dwelled inside its walls with only two interruptions; when Roman invaders forbade them access to the city and again, when under Jordanian occupation. Jews, regardless of nationality, were refused entry into the old Jewish quarter to meditate and pray at the Wall, the last vestige of Solomon’s temple. It is important to remember: had Jordan not joined Egypt and Syria in the 1967 war against Israel, the old city of Jerusalem would still be Arab. Clearly, while Jews were ready to die for Jerusalem they would not kill for Jerusalem.

Today, for the first time in history, Jews, Christians and Muslims all may freely worship at their shrines. And, contrary to certain media reports, Jews, Christians and Muslims ARE allowed to build their homes anywhere in the city. The anguish over Jerusalem is not about real estate but about memory.

What is the solution? Pressure will not produce a solution. Is there a solution? There must be, there will be. Why tackle the most complex and sensitive problem prematurely? Why not first take steps which will allow the Israeli and Palestinian communities to find ways to live together in an atmosphere of security. Why not leave the most difficult, the most sensitive issue, for such a time?

Jerusalem must remain the world’s Jewish spiritual capital, not a symbol of anguish and bitterness, but a symbol of trust and hope. As the Hasidic master Rebbe Nahman of Bratslav said, “Everything in this world has a heart; the heart itself has its own heart.”

About the Author

Visitor Comments: 17

(17)
Barbara Holtzman,
May 31, 2011 8:48 PM

This is what everyone forgets

"Today, for the first time in history, Jews, Christians and Muslims all may freely worship at their shrines."
People of all colors, all nations, all faiths, all welcome in Jerusalem when the Jews govern it.
When all the others who have tried, from the Romans to the British to the Jordanians - not so much.

(16)
AE Constant,
July 9, 2010 3:58 AM

It is very good to understant what about Jewish history.

I am very much interest to understand Israel and the history. Now I am getting the knowledge through your web. Thank you very much for the same. I wish to get more and more from you.

(15)
YeHudit,
May 3, 2010 1:31 PM

Our crown jewel

JerUSAlem is our crown jewel and will always be!

(14)
Jewish Mama,
April 30, 2010 5:23 AM

Anon #11

I was happy to see Wiesel's commitment by placing this add for the world to see. Then I saw the comment of #11. I wish you would have used your real name. And I wish you would tell us where else you write. And I wish that Aish.com would let you write about our shared passion for Jerusalem and all of Israel, because you said it so beautifully. May all your hopes and prayers for the unity of Jerusalem in righteous Jewish hands be answered.
In fact, Wiesel could also have said that the very word Jerusalem is made up of two Hebrew words: yi.r.eh and sha.le.m: wholeness revealed, or teaching of peace--it can be translated in other similar ways. It was our ancestors that named it and the name has held for millennium.

(13)
Jossef,
April 28, 2010 1:09 PM

Thank You

Thank you Eli Wiesel for this passionate letter to President Obama. No one is in a better position to do so.

E.weisel , your intention is good but your words are not strong enough

Mr. Weisel : you are an authority ,a holocaust survivor,
a nobel prize winner , you walk with ministers and presidents , your words are heard by media and world leaders . but inspite of your wonderful initiative your words were not strong enough to convey to the world what jerusalem is for jews and what jews will do for jerusalem.
you could have said: " IM ESHKACHECH YERUSHLAYIM
TISHAKACH YEMINI " to convey to your freind the President with unminced words , that there is a line drawn in the sand, that for jews , jerusalem is their heart , fantasy , imagination , ideals , symbol of being a nation with history , a nation with prophets , justice , fairness, history , soul. when I read your letter , I felt that more than conveying my feeling as a jew about jerusalem , you tried not to offend anybody , not to hurt feelings. you cant make an omlett without cracking eggs , and you cant be apologetic about jews' feelings about jerusalem. it is clear to me even if I were not a jew , just from pragmatic considerations
of running a city , that division of jerusalem will lead eventually to immense unbearable friction and eventually to another war. you could have made the analogy , that dividing jerusalem is like dividing the baby in king solomon's verdict . you could have said that jews dont divide babies , only those who dont feel and care for the baby are prepared to take half. this is what you could have said. I hope that your opportunity to say hard words for jerusalem will come again and you will take it. thank you in advance.

(10)
Stan Corbett,
April 26, 2010 8:19 PM

Jerusalem is the Jewish capital

There never has been a Palestine country ruled by a Palestine king. Therefore, we should tell the world that Palestinians have no claim on our holy capital. It was built by Jewish people thousands of years ago and since that time, Jewish people have always lived in Jerusalem.

(9)
stewart,
April 26, 2010 6:26 PM

every year in Jerusalem

god bless Elie Wiesel. would there even be a discussion about the middle east if Israel had lost just one war? no because there would be no Jews in the middle east. yet here the arabs are free to live their lives if they live in peace.

(8)
Ray Saperstein,
April 26, 2010 5:13 PM

Bark and Olmert must share part of the blame for this situation

Both Barak and Olmert offered to split Jerusalem. I don't recall if Mr. Wiesel wrote so beautifully about Jerusalem then. Did he take out full-page adds calling on them not to split Jerusalem? The problem with our "partners in peace" is that even when they turn down an offer, they assume that the rejected offer is the starting point of the next round of negotiations. It seems like the entire world expects Israel to split Jerusalem. What will happen if Israel stands fast in refusing to do so, and the Palestinians walk away from the negotiating table? Won't Israel then be vilified for being "intransigent"? By the way, could somebody explain to me why Jerusalem should be the capital of a Palestinian entity? It was never the capital of an Arab nation. When Jordan had it, Arab leaders did not make a big deal about it. There were no great Muslim pilgrimages to what is supposedly the third most important place in the Muslim religion. In addition, the 1964 Palestinian National Charter specifically states that the Palestinians have no claim to the West Bank or Gaza. It sems to me that they want it simply because the Jews have it.

(7)
Anonymous,
April 26, 2010 9:03 AM

Thank You Elie Weisel

Dear Prof Weisel, what a beautiful and inspiring article. You have such a way with words that come from your Heart. May your words touch and bless all those that read them. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

(6)
Judith Goldstein,
April 26, 2010 12:29 AM

Jerusalem-My New/Old Home

I am an Olah Chadasha, a new immigrant in my Homeland. Just 12 weeks and I have done more walking than in the past ten years. Who can add to the words of Elie Wiesel...impossible. But this evening as I returned from my daughter's home in Katamon to my apartment in Rehavia, passing through the German Colony, I stopped in a small shop selling jewelry and Jewish items-all made by Israeli artists. One wall was completely covered with hamsas. Fascinated by the variations of design, the lovely saleslady explained the difference between a Muslim hamsa and a Jewish one. Google for lots of information...my story is about myself and the saleslady. We exchanged first names. Hers was obviously Russian. I asked her where she was born. "Minsk", she replied. "My Bubbe was from a tiny shtetl near Minsk called Slutsk" I told her. Stunned silence as we stare at each other. When she finds her vocal chords and can speak again, she says, "My grandparents lived in Slutsk. I visited them many times as a young child..." Now I cannot speak. What are the odds? The new immigrant from America chooses one store out of hundreds and comes face to face with a woman who has been here twenty years and our grandparents lived in the same shtetl? Maybe we are related...but in the shock of the moment, she cannot remember her grandparents names! No matter, we ARE related. We are HOME. Jerusalem, the heart of our hearts unites us as it does all Jews the world over. AND...my new friend gives me a 10% discount.

(5)
Rose Glasser,
April 25, 2010 6:30 PM

Great email!

(4)
Irina S,
April 25, 2010 5:05 PM

Thank you for this article!

Dear Mr. Wiesel, thank you very much for the article. This is so true, when I first visited Jerusalem 15 years ago, I felt that I returned home. The feelings are indescribable, the peacefullness, the beauty, the history, no one has the right to take it away from us when Hashem himself gave it to Jewish people.

(3)
Anonymous,
April 25, 2010 4:44 PM

God cares for All

Jerusalem must remain the Jewish spiritual capital of the world, I like that! Not everyone is on the same band wagon, let's not be concern with the ones that are not, let's do what we can do, in time they will join in. Reading the Torah, how can you forget Israel? You just can't, the words of God is placed in our heart for Jerusalem, just like it is in the heart of God.

(2)
Anonymous,
April 25, 2010 2:46 PM

Leave it to Elie Wiesel to tell the story in such beautiful .glowing terms. May he live a long and healthful life and continue to bless us with his wisdom and kindness. And may Jerusalem remain our capital till the end of time. Amen

(1)
Mario Spiteri,
April 25, 2010 1:03 PM

Jerusalem

"When a Jew visits Jerusalem for the first time, it is a homecoming"
I visited Jerusalem for the first time some three weeks ago and the feeling I got when I first saw the city from Rehav'am's Lookout is beyond description. After one experiences Jersualem, he will that Elie automatically come to the concluson that Elie Wiesel's words cannot be more truer.